Insurance claims

It’s been seven whole months since the 18th September earthquake. But many of the earthquake victims, including all the victims in my constituency, have still not receive their insurance claims in spite of the Home Minister’s assurances during the eighth session of the Parliament. So I felt compelled to send this letter yesterday.

i guess there is egoistic and grudge on the opposition leader, if the statement from the home ministry says almost all the house holds got their insurance claimed and only some. but looking at the OL statement non of the people from his constituency got insurance. so why did that happened and how CAN this go beyond 7 months from the time of destruction saying its under investigating. some air crashes and the result of investigating are taken out in few months if we look into other countries matters. but this is not air investigation its investigation on our peoples welfare and the DRUKPAS. just a message to the concerned ministry…why don’t you try sleeping outside in your corridor for few weeks during winter,and then feel the pain of those people living in places like HAA without proper houses repaired.

Is Home Minister the Managing Director of RICBL and BIL?
Anyway, it is sad that your constituency is didn’t get insurance claims. It is also sad that you fought for Sonam Tshering in media court as if you were not in the parliament.

Sometimes..why don’t you talk about illegal timber trade taking place in Haa?
Sometimes, writing incriminating the can lose the grazing ground for Horse because people of Haa will start illegal grass trade after exhaustion of trees for illegal timbers.

It is nice to know this but the thing is Why this has been delayed for so long? Hon’ble Opposition Leader Please shed some light on what could have been delayed this action from Ministry fo Home and Cultural Minister?
Moreover, Our Ministers are Lucky to be as Minister as they enjoy it and there is law to vote out such Minister with Vote of No Confidence. Do you think just a mere impeachment can be effective in democracy? AS far as I am Concerned there should be a law where those Ministers who fail to answer appropriate and who don’t act upon their answers pronounced in Parliament should be voted out with Vote of No Confidence (Law followed in almost all the democratic countries).
Hon’ble Opposition, I beg to Educate me on my contention “we need the Law for Voting out the incapable Minister with Vote of no Confidence” if he/she is found to be so during Question and Answer session.
Morover, Our Hon’ble Foreign Minister has been Out for man years if i am not wrong being out of our country. If he is incapable, there is a way to appoint new Minister who would be Extremely capable as per law of the land.

It may also be regarded that the survey with respect to the categorization of the damages have been random and, in many cases, interest vested.While some households with apparently severe damages have been enlisted under the least-compensation entitled category,others with a minimal damage have been surprisingly recognized for a more handsome compensation.Thus, to say the least, the very authenticity of the survey may be questioned in many Gewogs.

I think we should ask media to do some research and report the public on the number of days the minister spend in office out of 365 days. I find some of the ministers out of office on official tour. They don’t have to visit each and every Dzongkhag.

It is high time our ministers spend quality time in office and do their job. They should also stop attending ceremonies namely,opening of feeder roads,grounding breaking ceremony etc etc.

If that is true, I also feel that OL is equally to be blamed. It is his constituency and what has he been doing till date? As a representative in the goverenment, why couldn’t he press the government for the issue? “When one finger is pointed to others, the rest are pointed to yourself”. So, think well and act rationally.

Why everything gets delayed and takes such a long time for even a simple thing. Top down:
The minister tells the secretary; the secretary has already programmed to go on tour. So the matter has to wait till his return. He returns but goes to the hospital claiming discomfort after the tour. Actually he doesn’t want to work and has to help in planning his niece’s or nephew’s wedding and asks his senior friends for help. When he finally shows up in office and has time to fill up his claim forms TA/DA and what have you. That done, he has to chat with other buddies to catch up with he missed while away on tour and engages the phone. No one can get to him. Then he has pending files, backlog, if you will, of less importance. When asked by his minister, he says he’s looking into it without even having opened the file! After having seen the file, the secretary passes it down to the director who’s attending an important workshop/seminar/conference. It goes further down in no particular order and eventually forgets the matter altogether till the bubble bursts! Come on you don’t have to be geshay to know why things get bogged down!

Well.. If the statement of OL are true than it is a grave concern and time to pull up the socks.
How can this government do such a thing.. Talk something in front of nation on BBS one thing and exactly opposite thing on the ground. The people of Haa or where ever they may be, are already injured with devastation and calamity, how can our ministers living in a 6-7bedded banglow overlook people who are the facing the harsh climate..
Thank god my house was not badly torn apart.. Otherwise…..!!!!!

Dear Mr. Thinker,
Whether you use your nick as Tobgay/concerned bhutanese/PDP/Democrat/Drukpa/Dzongpoen/ngyamchung/Sharchokpa kota/Pelden Drukpa, it is very clear that you are against OL to whatever issue he puts here. But it would be nice of you, if you could atleast be rational on whatever comment you post. It is very much clear here that OL pressed goverment for the above issue and still he is going to press…..

These are all politics….one doest not have to make public on every letter they write it in a day….one has to write that and that doesnt not mean he is seeing the welfare of the victims….that in anyway is his mandate….if that is the mandate,then why is this issue making so politicised…the only thing is that the readers have to understand the intention behind the political leaders and the next elections days around…..

“Why everything gets delayed and takes such a long time for even a simple thing. Top down:
The minister tells the secretary; the secretary has already programmed to go on tour. So the matter has to wait till his return. He returns but goes to the hospital claiming discomfort after the tour. Actually he doesn’t want to work and has to help in planning his niece’s or nephew’s wedding and asks his senior friends for help. When he finally shows up in office and has time to fill up his claim forms TA/DA and what have you. That done, he has to chat with other buddies to catch up with he missed while away on tour and engages the phone. No one can get to him. Then he has pending files, backlog, if you will, of less importance. When asked by his minister, he says he’s looking into it without even having opened the file! After having seen the file, the secretary passes it down to the director who’s attending an important workshop/seminar/conference. It goes further down in no particular order and eventually forgets the matter altogether till the bubble bursts! Come on you don’t have to be geshay to know why things get bogged down!”

This is one good piece of a reality story how our present day bureaucrats work.

This shows that our bureaucracy needs immediate overhaul if we are keen on having smooth public service delivery system in place.

If OL is truly serious in seeing something done on this front, he must now make the right noise by tabling this issue in the coming national assembly session as an example of a bureaucratic driven governance failure story and in that, demand the government to reshuffle all the top bureaucrats like directors and secretaries ( the system spoilers and delayed public service problem creators lot) in line with the BCSR 2010 with immediate effect.

This is a perennial problem plaguing the Bhutanese society at large and unless this is addressed holistically through strict government’s policy decision, nothing tangible seems in the offing by way of a permanent solution package.

The case by case or rather the piece meal based strategy wouldn’t take us to any worthwhile distance.

Newcomer, no use looking for a permanent solution to any issue in our system. However, what we need to see is that whatever ails us must be attended to with dedication and honesty and must be seen to be done or at least show us visibly that efforts are being made in that fashion. That’s not happening and the trash is piling up with increasing urgency by the day!

great, on the part of O.L. on raising the issue since he is very much concerned of the people of his constituency.

Definitely this is appreciated but, why does our O.L. trying to make a point in the public where he should be rather visiting the offices of the ministers and discuss the issues if he feels something is of grave concern?

So where do we go now, he is filled with ego that he doesn’t want to talk to anyone, forget about the PM with whom he holds the greatest grudge as if PM has murdered his dad,,but even with the ministers..ALL DUE TO EGO…. this raising of issues showing everything on the public view is to show how sincere he is in the eye but hind side is just to garner the political mileage.

I myself is sad since I always find our O.L.attitude and intentions is to make the gov. is doing nothing and he is doing everything good…may be right but all is political antics that i don’t buy.
Rather than sitting at home/office filled with ego and personal grudge, visit the concerned stakeholders and bring out the solution, not in public but in reality…thats all i can say….thanks….

From KOL:
Imnidiot wrote:
These days the RCSC is transferring several senior directors. But the transfer is happening within the same ministry, from one room to the other or another building to the adjacent. We have heard that they are transferred because they have completed 5 years term in the same department. But can’t they be transferred to a different ministry? Is it mandatory for the directors to be transferred after every five years but in the same ministry? What is this transfer? Can we at all call it a transfer? Why can’t they be sent to a different ministry when thousands of other civil servants are kicked from one corner of the country to the other and sometimes without applying for transfer.

Kzy12 wrote:
we want this transfer in other ministry as well.

Axeman wrote:
The recent Directors’ transfers was a good initiative.It is required to move the Directors from time to time to prevent corruption and nepotism. The MOE, MOA&F and MOH have already reshuffled their directors. The actual Ministry is MOIC which actually needs to reshuffle the Directors immediately as some directors have been in the same department for more than 25 years

Kaka wrote:
i agree that MoIC directors need immediate reshufles. DCA DG has to transfer immediately or else the department will remain stagnant and reach nowhere. i believe he has been in the same dept for more a decade. RCSC plz if moic cannot.

Next few secretaries who otherwise have been taking the organizations on a mistaken and dangerous lawlessness path should either be sacked or transferred in the same manner so that national growth takes place by way of these changes on a positive note- meaning a corrected civil service culture slowly taking roots in our society.

This is the first time I am seeing people truly expessing their happiness with full hearts at what has recently emanated from the RCSC by way of these transfers.Even if within their own ministries, such changes would make lot of a difference. RCSC mustn’t stop their jeep there, they need to continue driving this still further up till the secretary level and at least ensure few of the notorious lots reshuffled too so that they slowly regains the public’s lost trust in the process.

We can at least voice our concerns through our representatives, and it is so befitting that the OL raise this issue with the Home Minister for the people of his constituency. And I sincerely hope such representations will only become stronger. All citizens of the country should use the representatives in the parliament to voice their issues. I think this is one of the many privileges of democracy. People would have not gotten anything without democracy, people would have not been able to question anybody, the authorities would have just usurped their power to their interests. So keep going OL and for that matter I urge all other Hon’ble Members of Parliament to represent the people of their constituency. Seek reasonable answer from the government, put reasonable pressure to authorities, and perform ethical duty of care for the people and the country.

Dear God,
Thank you for the choosing the right opposition leader who can bring out the issues affecting the community right in the face, boldly. It would be difficult place to live in without insightful leaders like you who look into the urgent matters in hand.

The 18th September quake and reminiscences still haunts. Though its not under your constituency, Naja Gewog, Paro Dzongkhag still suffers from the quake effects. Nine Months over afte the quakes and assessment from various team, the people have still not received the Insurance claims or what ever. Half liveable homes are required to demolish compulsorily in order to get the claim 9according to GUP), which is still unclear and uncertain. At times people feel that leaning structures is still better than no benefits/claim, atleast it protects from rain and wind if not from death should another one strike.

Its very concerning and confusing at the same time. The GUP has no interest to look into the matter and so does his subordinates who are in contact with people. Please help where to contact. Atleast use of media from govts end would be much help… but govt is busy taxing.
Let Charity begin at home… and lets pray to god.

Right professionals in wrong positions?
By Kuenzang Choden | 19 May 2012

The transfer of three Directors in the agriculture ministry leads to questions over the efficacy of RCSC’s transfer rules
The recent transfer of three directors in the agriculture ministry to different departments that do not match their expertise has led to some debate on the Royal Civil Service Commission’s transfer rules.
The current director of agriculture department, Chencho Norbu, will replace Director Karma Dukpa of Forest and Park Services Department. Karma Dukpa will take over the livestock department. And the present director of the livestock department, Tenzin Dhendup, is the new director of agriculture department.
Most civil servants, especially in the agriculture ministry, The Bhutanese talked to say the transfer does not bode well with the RCSC’s mandate to ensure an efficient civil service.
They say the directors have been taking care of the departments they know best and they are professionals the departments need in terms of their training and expertise.
The Position Classification System (PCS) manual that RCSC follows requires the qualifications of civil servants to match their job requirement based on the principle of “right person for the right position.”
One of the foresters with the ministry said it would be difficult to convey certain technical messages to the head that would have no professional background.
There are also officials in the ministry who support the transfer of the directors. They say if a boss holds on to the same position for a long time he becomes a dictator. This might lead to mismanagement of an organization.
A civil servant said some bosses with right training and knowledge are usually arrogant, do not listen to their subordinates, and think they own the departments they head. He said time to time transfer of department heads should take place.
However, another official with the ministry argues that, at the management level, it would help if the head has professional background related to the mandates of the department he takes care of.
The agriculture secretary, Sherub Gyaltshen, said at the executive level civil servants can be transferred anywhere within the civil service.
He said the ministry would have preferred to have the directors in their current positions, but the civil service Act had to be honored. He added that the ministry is not losing them as they will still be with the ministry.
RCSC Commissioner Kinley Yangzom said the law is clear. She said the Civil Service Act of 2010 states that all inter-ministerial or inter-agency or inter-occupational transfers shall be carried out by the commission.
However, intra-ministerial or intra-agency or intra-occupational transfers shall be carried out by the ministries and agencies themselves as per Bhutan Civil Service Rule (BCSR), she said.
The commissioner said the first option is to transfer civil servants within the ministry. If it is not possible the RCSC steps in and the transfer can be made inter -ministerial depending on the posts available.
The transfer of the directors was discussed among the committee of secretaries chaired by the cabinet secretary in the past, said the commissioner.
She said once a civil servant moves to the executive level, the most important thing is their leadership quality. “Here we are emphasizing more on the leadership and nowhere does it say that their background is important. Moreover, it is not really a loss of professionals,” she added.

1 Comment from Ap Nakphey:

RCSC Commissioner Kinley Yangzom’s statement made lot of sense! Indeed these directors should have been transferred to other ministries on inter-ministerial transfers rather than on this soft- eye washing tailor made internal transfers.If people at the executive level makes noise based on their professional standings, RCSC should keep them as a Specialist in their current departments and offer these director posts to others – swapping exercise.